Robin van Persie named in Holland squad for Turkey friendly against Arsenal's wishes

Robin van Persie is at the centre of a club versus country row after Holland
coach Bert van Marwijk defied the wishes of Arsene Wenger by selecting
Arsenal’s star striker for the friendly against Turkey.

Call of duty: Robin van Persie has been picked by HollandPhoto: ACTION IMAGES

Wenger has already warned Van Marwijk that it would be “an absolute scandal” for him to pick Van Persie, who has not played for Arsenal since suffering ankle ligament damage against Blackburn at the end of August.

However, Van Persie is due to return to full training at the end of this week and Van Marwijk clearly wants to make his own check on the player ahead of the friendly on Nov 17.

He was named yesterday in a 24-man Holland squad which again excluded the Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong. Given his clear public stance on the issue, Wenger would be especially unhappy if Van Persie has been telling Van Marwijk that he would be available to play international football.

The Van Persie situation is particularly sensitive as he suffered a serious ankle injury when playing in a friendly for Holland last year which ruled him out until April. He then returned for the end of the Premier League season before playing throughout the summer to help Holland to the World Cup final.

When Van Persie’s international availability was raised last month, Wenger could hardly have been more clear.

“I think the Dutch coach has a good sense of humour - there is no chance,” he said. “That would be an absolute scandal if he plays in a friendly and not a competition here. He would not be ready. The players have to perform for their clubs first. If they are OK for their club they can play for their national team. You cannot have the reverse.”

He added on Wednesday night: "I don’t know, he has not played or practiced with the team so I’m quite surprised he is in the national team."

There is also controversy in the continued exclusion of De Jong, who was dropped from Dutch squad for last month's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Moldova and Sweden as punishment for his tackle which broke Hatem Ben Arfa's leg.

Van Persie is also not the only player carrying an injury to be included in the squad. Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt, Mark van Bommel, Khalid Boulahrouz, Wout Brama, Eljero Elia, Theo Janssen and Ruud van Nistelrooy have also been called up despite recent injury.

Van Bommel's call-up is likely to add to the strain between Bayern Munich and the Dutch Football Association. Bayern asked for Van Bommel to be released before the qualifier against Sweden after he suffered a recurrence of a knee problem, but Van Marwijk, his father-in-law, claimed he was fit and he played for 70 minutes.

The club had already been in dispute with Dutch FA after Arjen Robben returned from the World Cup with a hamstring injury.